Though some of the American public may view race as a factor large enough to sway their opinion of any policy or bill he plans to enact, congress has risen above that meaning it is not a factor in their decision making process.
Race has nothing to do with all of the stalls and speed bumps that President Barack Obama is facing as he tries to push legislation through congress.
The problem is that Obama is attempting to make large changes or improvements that the government and country are just not ready for.
Take the very public health care reform bill; this is Obama’s top legislative priority. This bill has faced much opposition since being formally introduced to congress in July. The president has had to defend it time and time again against slander and misinterpretation.
But in no way does society view this resistance to take Obama’s side as racism; the matter of fact is, Obama is rushing his plans without any clear deliberation. The fact that the face behind these plans are one of an African American is not the factor here.
This conflict is based on many other issues such as Reuters estimated $1 trillion cost of the plan in an already struggling economy. This is obviously a very large cost and it makes sense that republicans and other conflicting parties would be questioning whether it is a necessity.
Another legislative act that came under fire was the stimulus plan that the president and congress pushed through in February.
Even though this bill was passed it did not go without problems and some controversy.
Again the reason the stimulus plan faced opposition has nothing to do with Obama’s race but rather the large cost and a lack of belief that a surge of money into the economy will do anything to revive it.
The struggle Obama is facing has everything to do with him being a democrat and the reality that he is attempting to change; a country that seems to be resistant to it.
A final example of the struggle that Obama’s legislation is facing and a solid reason why the matter has nothing to do with his race is his climate change bill.
From early on in his candidacy to be president Obama has declared that he would put laws in place to protect the environment and to limit greenhouse emissions.
A bill supporting this was supposed to be presented to the Senate early in September but has been pushed back to late September at the earliest according to the Washington Times’ by Amanda DeBard.
Is the reason this climate bill being postponed have anything to do with Obama’s race? Hardly.
Democratic leaders in the Senate have stated that they will not act until the healthcare reform legislation is dealt with; this resistance coupled with the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy for reasons of this delay.
All of the reasons that these countless bills and plans are being postponed have everything to do with the timing and controversy of what the president is trying to do and nothing to do with the fact that he is an African American.
In a country so diverse it is hard to believe that a person’s race alone would determine what laws are enacted; that therefore should give one a strong belief that other factors are coming into play, not race.